pam

hi there thanks so much for your replies. to answer your questions - 1. no insulation under the tiled floor. and not sure whether there was a DPM in the original concrete slab. 2. timber floor was the spec by the architect. we needed to raise the floor up 130mm. therefore it was decided to lay a DPM, then batons, the chipboard. our plan thereafter was to put down engineered floor. Update from previous post - joiner holds his hands up at OSb was not a good idea. It also turns out that no screed was used at all in the areas where the tiles were missing. Just packed up with OSB. The floor has no been completely removed. We had a screeding company come an put a laser on the floor. It is only out at some places by 5-10mm but obviously more where the tiles are missing. so I have 2 options after bring the floor level to the tiles by filling the small areas where there is no tile with sand and then 1. lay insulation boards (total 80mm). enclosing pipes within the boards and then DPM and then pour screed of 50mm and level floor. then final floor 2. level floor with 25mm screed directly over the tiles and then lay DPM and then batons packed with insulation and run pipes through this and then chipboard. not really sure which option to take tbh. option 1 sounds tempting but I am concerned about laying pipes under concrete screed within insulation boards. we also would need to encase gas pipe in this and this would be protected in a channel. option 2 would give us reassurance that pipes were available under the chipboard but my concern would be the return of the squeaking as the batons would not be fixed. although I think we would fixed them this time through the DPM accepting the risk of damp. out of interest when I lifted the DPM there was moisture between this and the tiled floor. now we have had all the pipes taken up and therefore water could have got through the DPM but not sure about this. I guess one option is to get floor moisture tested? thanks again for your comments. look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for your suggestion but I can’t imagine that will work. The OSB has added another level of complexity to the construct and is so unpredictable. Therefore I think removing it will allow us to see how the CLS timbers lie on the tiled floor. We can then see how off it is before laying the self levelling screed.this is the way it should have been done from the start. Unfortunately the plans weren’t read properly.

that's great work onoff. unfortunately I don't know how many packers were used and at what spaces. what size of CLS did you use? I see you also laid them on their side however, we have just had confirmation from the architect that a self levelling screed should have been used. it was in the architects plans. so we now have to lift entire floor including batons and OSB. the OSB was used to secure the batons to it and also used as a packer. however, I think it has compounded the problem because it is moving on its own. because we have tiles underneath with some areas having big gaps that hasn't helped with securing the CLS and thus causing it to flex over the large unsuported areas. I will keep you updated once floor is up and once I have managed to find a company/person who can screed the floor. any idea who I should be looking for? is there a specific tradesmen/professional who does this type of work?

thanks so much for your reply. its definitely a good shout and I will discuss with builder and architect. here is a photo of our floor before the chipboard went down. I have kind of resigned myself to lifting the floor up or maybe a few boards and then trying to secure the joists to the concrete floor. can I ask how you secured your CLS batons to the concrete floor ? did you use hammer fixings with washers and what size CLS timbers did you use?

hi there thanks for your quick response. we definitely used spax flooring screws as my husband bought them. he wanted Timco collated screws but couldn't source them and therefore went for the spax 4.5x60mm screws. we don't have any noggins in the main part of the floor which along with the joists not being secured to the concrete floor is what's causing it to squeak... I think...

hi there we are currently undergoing renovation work. And have had a subfloor laid which consist of 22mm chipboard fixed to timber CLS batons 400mm apart. This sits on OSB and then a waterproof membrane which then sits on tiled concrete floor. The batons have been invariably packed with wooden/plaster packers The batons were not secured to the concrete floor underneath due to concerns of breaching the membrane. the floor was making an awful screeching noise which was partially responded to hammer fixings through the board into the batons. although this has helped some of the noise it seems to have now moved somewhere else. we are looking for helpful suggestions as to what we can do before we ulimately lift the chipboard and basically try and start again. which I fear is what is the inevitable....

thanks very much. how much did you pay for your apeer door? we have been quoted £1300 inc vat fitted.

thanks for getting back to me. solidor were definitely most cost effective. but not sure about their covering on the door. its sounds very much like PVC. although I think they are all the same. the other company we looked at were Apeer doors? I am still waiting to hear back for a quote. but have approached Stevenswood who do a supply only. trouble is finding a decent fitter

hi ralp which door did you end up go hi there which door did you end up going for? we are also looking for one similar to you one but no side window

hi there we are looking for a composite back door. we have approached a distributor for Rationel who do a supply only. we are looking for typical costs of a back door for supply. we have been quoted £1400 inc vat. (door dimensions 2040 by 836) we are based in Edinburgh. does that price seem reasonable? also how much should we expect to pay for installation